The Very Best of NYC TV/Film

After trysting with her married lover, Janet Leigh embezzles $40,000 and heads for Mexico. She stops for the night at taxidermy buff Anthony Perkins’ Bates Motel, where guests check in, but... In 1960, Psycho packed theaters with white-faced patrons, vaulted its title into the non-Freudian mainstream, turned ordinary shower stalls into places of terror, and sent Alfred Hitchcock chortling all the way to the bank. Catch it at Film Forum this month.

Starring James Franco in a career-defining performance as Allen Ginsberg, HOWL is the story of how the openly gay poet’s seminal work broke down societal barriers despite an infamous public obscenity trial. In his famously confessional style, Ginsberg—counter-culture icon and chronicler of the Beat Generation—recounts the road trips, love affairs, and search for personal liberation that led to HOWL (in theaters now), the most timeless work of his career.

Be among the first in New York to see David Sigal’s Florent, Queen of the Meat Market—and meet Sigal and star Florent Morellet themselves at a special benefit for Out Professionals, Oct 11 at the screening room for Goldcrest Films. You won’t want to miss this fantastic voyage to New York City’s legendary Florent diner. For 23 years, the all-night eatery in the city’s Meatpacking District was prime stomping ground for a surprising mix of A-list celebrities, tourists, families and club kids. It also played an important role in LGBT activism and culture. This wildly entertaining documentary chronicles the history and final days of this outrageous eatery.

Oct 14-17, the Queer Black Cinema International Film Festival comes to Harlem. Created by Angel L. Brown-Ross in 2008, the festival is an avant-garde event that will showcase the best films about the black LGBT experience from around the world. The four-day festival highlights the work of both gay and straight award-winning filmmakers of African descent, along with panel discussions with industry leaders, workshops, great networking, social events and parties.